"Change we need", indeed. Not since Jackie Kennedy has a first lady been as powerful and inspirational as Michelle Obama.

Supportive yet independent, at last America has elected alongside their new president, a woman equipped with brains and beauty to prowl the corridors of the White House, keeping those hefty male egos in check.Poor Carla Bruni, her reign as queen of the First Ladies was short lived, ousted by a powerhouse. Cindy McCain would have never challenged her crown and despite her sexy specs, neither would Sarah Palin but in Mrs Obama she has met her match.

In truth, from the moment she stepped on to that podium at the Democrat convention seemingly millenniums ago, we all secretly knew which way the race was going. Yes, he had FA cup ears; yes, there was that cringe-worthy YouTube song about him; but if Michelle thought that he was OK - if she chose him - then Barack Obama just had to be a good man.

Everything about her speaks to the modern, post-feminist woman: she is manifestly clever, independently minded and attractive in a normal, accessible way. Her demeanour is a reassuring mixture of sassy and self-deprecating; her easy, confident dress sense neither too sexy nor too self-conscious. Most of all however, she appears to be the personification of sanity, a woman who, while clearly supportive of her husband's quest for world domination, is nevertheless not afraid to point out when he is danger of drinking too much of his own Kool-Aid.

Her predecessors, with exception of the eternally chic Jackie Kennedy have formed 2 camps; the first is the meek, supportive grin-and-bear-it model, as exemplified by Laura and Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan and Mamie Eisenhower. Often Republican, invariably well coiffed, they seem to simultaneously be at the centre of the action yet a million light years away from power.

The alternative is the two-for-the-price-of-one First Lady. These tend to be ball-breaking Democrats such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton. They have their own careers, their own lives and their own minds.

What makes Michelle unique is the way she so skilfully unites both types with the style and sophistication of Jackie Kennedy: loyal, self-reliant and a new fashion icon. Sarah Palin blew £90,000 on her campaign wardrobe but all I really remember is her vacuous grin and gun wielding with a maniacal, red neck look in her eye.

In the last American election, the big question was this: who would you most want to share a beer with? In this one, it was more: who would you like to share a Martini with? The answer of course being Michelle. (Barack could maybe make himself useful by popping out for some crisps.)

Michelle is not only invigoratingly intelligent, proud of her urbanity but also unafraid of showing her abilities. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the new first lady is what having a woman lawyer like her in the White House means. You wouldn't want to try anything too shifty with Mrs Obama in the wings – with a forceful female backing the president could this mark the beginning of the end of lies, scandals and male dominated super power decision-making as we know it?


Style Evolution: Michelle Obama

    She claims she's not a natural-born politician. But, when it comes to fashion, America's next First Lady, Michelle Obama, seems to have a strategist's instincts for what will play in Peoria. Her secret lies in knowing how to mix high and low (and we don't just mean her heels). She wears dresses from pricey designers like Narciso Rodriguez (left), Thakoon and Isabel Toledo, whose pieces carry four-figure tabs and are sold in stores like -- yep -- Neiman-Marcus, Barneys and Saks. But she also showed up on the campaign trail wearing designs like the $148 White House-Black Market dress that she chose for "The View" last summer and the J. Crew sweater and skirt that she wore last month on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," insisting in her best every woman voice, "You can get some good stuff online."

    Joe Raedle, Getty Images

    The other big winner: Narciso Rodriguez, whose red-and-black confetti-print dress was Mrs. Obama's choice for her Election Night debut. It's hard to imagine it was anything but warm in Grant Park -- where the President-elect addressed an estimated 100,000 fans -- but Mrs. O added a short black cardigan to the tank dress, which came straight from Rodriguez's Spring '09 runway.

    Randy Brooke, WireImage.com

    Sure she has a law degree, a high-powered job and two adorable daughters. But to fashionista fans, Michelle Obama's most striking accomplishment during the presidential campaign has been channeling Jackie Kennedy -- the trademark flip, the simple '60s sheaths, the no-nonsense strand of pearls. She wore a tangerine version of the look last spring at a primary rally in North Carolina.

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    While Barack Obama boasts that he owns five of the same suit -- a dark two-button by Hartmarx -- Mrs. Obama is far more adventurous, especially when it comes to color. Usually, she favors bold shades -- blues, oranges, purples -- but she chose a soft, cantaloupe-colored dress earlier this fall for her husband's acceptance of the Harold Washington Award.

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    Their fist-bump got the most attention at the Minnesota rally on the night that Barack Obama cinched the Democratic nomination. Second-most-talked about: Michelle Obama's purple dress by her long-time designer and friend, Chicago's Maria Pinto.

    Scott Olson, Getty Images

    At the first joint appearance of the Obama-Biden families last summer, Michelle wore a purple and grey shirtwaist -- just the sort of thing Donna Reed would have chosen. And, to ensure that she didn't tower over just about everyone at the Springfield, Ill. rally, the 5-foot-11 Mrs. Obama slipped on silver ballet flats.

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    Perhaps it was a bid for Red-state votes? At the second Presidential debate in Nashville, Mrs. Obama wore a bright red Narciso Rodriguez sheath, which just happened to blend in perfectly with the carpet.


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    Most people have never even heard of fashion designer Isabel Toledo (though she's been at it for more than 30 years). But at a New York fund-raiser last spring, Mrs. Obama looked so comfortable in one of Toldeo's edgy designs (and a Tom Binns necklace) that she sparked gossip she'd be wearing more of the Cuban-born designer's wares if she makes it to the White House.

    Marcel Thomas, FilmMagic

    Though one of her favorite stores is Ikram -- the high-rent Chicago boutique that carries designers like Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Lanvin and Rodarte -- Mrs. Obama likes to show that she's equally skilled at pulling together outfits from the other end of the spectrum. For an October rally in Miami, she wore this striped dress from H&M with a $34.95 price tag.

    The young Thai-born designer Thakoon Panichgul -- who's known, simply, as Thakoon -- calls this his "Tailored Inside Out Dress." And since one of Michelle's favorite tricks is to add a trinket here or there, she altered the silk floral dress with a small bow at the side of the neck for the first Presidential debate.

    AFP / Getty Images